NOVATO / Sweet Pea suit ends, but sour taste lingers

Published 4:00 am, Friday, April 7, 2006

A trademark-infringement lawsuit against 52 small-time Internet retailers, including a Novato woman who put her daughter's pet name, "Sweet Pea," on T-shirts, was dismissed after the defendants agreed to stop using the wording.

A Florida company, Sweet Pea Ltd. Inc., dropped the case on March 30 and also took the unusual step of paying money back to defendants who had already paid a settlement.

The decision was made after the defendants formed a group called SourPeas.org and blasted the lawsuit in the media as "a shakedown."

Terms of the dismissal were not revealed, but they apparently required only that the defendants refrain from using "sweet pea" on baby clothes and other products they plan to sell over the Internet.

"I still don't agree that we shouldn't be able to use it," said Laura Ostrowski, 34, of Novato. "I don't see it as a complete victory for either party, but at least they came to their senses and decided not to take money from these tiny mom-and-pop shops."

Ostrowski, who calls her 13-month-old daughter "Sweet Pea," said she created her online children's store, GiggleWiggles.com, because she needed extra cash to pay medical bills that accumulated as a result of having her baby.

The federal lawsuit, which was filed in January, charged her and Internet retailers around the country with trademark infringement after they put the words "sweet pea" on baby clothes and tried to sell them online.

The lawsuit demanded $16 million from each defendant.

According to the defendants, Sweet Pea Ltd. offered to drop from the lawsuit those who paid $5,000. Those who paid will be reimbursed.

The dispute was the latest example of a battle over copyrights and trademarks that has spread globally as a result of the ease with which a person can sell goods over the Internet, creating competition that wasn't there before cyberspace.

Ostrowski said it is not right that a company can trademark a common expression and then go after people who innocently use it.

"I can say I, along with the other defendants, never admitted to any wrongdoing," she said. "But with a 1-year-old daughter, I don't need any more stress in my life. She's still my Sweet Pea -- I just won't put it on the shirt."